Independent Commissioner Against Corruption

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:12): My question is to the Premier. Why was the Premier angry with the ICAC commissioner when they met last Friday?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir: standing order 97. It seeks to identify facts without the leave of the house.

The SPEAKER: If I allow the question, I also give the Premier quite an opportunity to respond, so I am going to allow the Premier an opportunity to respond.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:13): Thank you very much, sir. I meet with the ICAC commissioner on a very regular basis, right since the very day—

Mr Brown: Are you always angry?

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when I became the Premier of South Australia. In fact, before I became the Premier of South Australia we met with the ICAC commissioner whenever he sought a meeting. He sought a meeting last week on Thursday or Friday and that was put into the diary. I held a meeting with him. I have no interest whatsoever in canvassing the issues that we discussed in our private conversation.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: But I stand by all the comments that I have made privately and publicly.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Playford!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We welcomed the reports. The commissioner was going to prepare a review for the parliament to be given to us before the end of the year. We welcomed it when it arrived, but it doesn't mean that it hasn't been demoralising for many of the very hardworking men and women who are working very diligently at the moment, trying to turn around the mess that we inherited from the previous government.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader, order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I think that they are doing a great job fixing a complete and utter shambles that they inherited from the previous government. Have we solved every single problem? Of course not, but they have been working extraordinarily hard over the last 18 months to address the issues that those opposite would have known full well existed. They would have known all these issues existed.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The commissioner, of course, when we came to this side of the parliament, onto the treasury bench, sought a meeting and outlined the concerns that he had with regard to the health department in South Australia. They were, of course, pretty grave concerns—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister for Primary Industries!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that the ICAC commissioner had. I can only assume that the same briefing that I received on day one of our government was exactly the same as what the Leader of the Opposition knew about because he was, in fact, the minister for health at the time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I can only assume that what the ICAC commissioner was providing the Leader of the Opposition in his role as the minister for health was exactly the same. It begs the question of what he did about it—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —when that advice was provided to the previous government and what they did about it. But we are very clear: we started work on the cure plan within SA Health on day one and we have worked very hard to turn around the mess. Part of that, of course, is putting more than a billion dollars into the health budget in South Australia—

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated. There is a point of order. The point of order is for?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir. The question was: why was he angry?

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. Thank you, member for West Torrens.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right, be quiet. The question had an accusatory flavour, hence why I have allowed the Premier some latitude. I also note there has been constant interjection on both sides of the chamber. I ask that to cease and then I ask the Premier to come back to the substance of the question. Thank you.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. I was just outlining the work that we are doing to fix the system that we inherited from the previous government: more than a billion dollars put back into the health system in South Australia, progress on all the issues that were raised in the review. Now, of course, we have worked very hard and very quickly to establish the interagency task force, which is charged with the responsibility of providing advice to the government—

Mr Picton: Oh, the task force!

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is on the board.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —before the end of this year. They have already met on I think two or three occasions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Reynell!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: They are working through their response to us. We look forward to receiving that and then, of course, after Christmas they will have a continuing role to monitor the progress that is being made on that overarching cure plan. Let's be clear: there is nothing new in this report. These were the same issues that were raised with the government in March 2018.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We started the program of fixing the mess we inherited, not when we received the report a couple of days ago—

Mr Brown: Why were you surprised and angry?

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —but the very day that we took responsibility and took government.